1996

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"Dream No Small Dream"

San José State University Annual Faculty/Staff
Address

Robert L. Caret, president

AUGUST 23, 1996

More often than not, I am still referred to as the "new"
President of San José State University. And, though I enjoy
hearing that adjective applied to my name, I realize that I am well
into my second year as the President of this wonderful institution.
To many of you I am already "a campus fixture." I believe we have
come a long way together in a short time. And I thank you for that
accomplishment: It is also a pleasure and a privilege to candidly
say that Liz and I feel we are rapidly becoming a part of this
institution. The months that have passed have provided Liz and me
the opportunity to begin to understand the institution, to know and
feel its history, and to begin to know and appreciate its
communities, past and present. We want to thank all of you for
being so warm and welcoming and for allowing us into your community
and your lives.

From my perspective, the institution is healthy and well, and is
making the changes it needs to make to continue to evolve as the
premier institution in The California State University (CSU) in
northern California. Our future is very bright.

When I arrived in late January of 1995, it was obvious to me
from the visits I made, the reading accompanying those visits, and
the dialogue that resulted, that the institution needed to confront
a number of issues immediately. One of those issues was the need
for an institutional identity in the region. To that end, I
suggested the descriptor of the Metropolitan University (MU) to
help in building that image. One's image often results from a
relatively small number of key perceptions. I felt, and continue to
feel, that the Metropolitan University philosophy provides us with
an appropriate and desirable way to discuss our image in simpler
terms, though we all recognize that it describes an extremely
broad, diverse, and complex organization. There has been much
dialogue and discussion focused on the "Metropolitan University"
mission, especially within the academic division and the SJSU
Higher Education Roundtable, and I believe we are all beginning to
sense how it can best be applied to the culture and mission of this
institution.

SJSU, the Metropolitan University of Silicon Valley,

Is committed to developing educated citizens

Is committed to its community

Works closely with local business and government

Is responsive to the society we serve

Is highly interactive with that society

Using the Metropolitan University construct as the umbrella
theme for the campus, I suggested four sub-themes to focus our
energies and resources:

Enrollment services

Student success

Campus climate

Information resources/literacy

With a much more specific focus, I also recognized the need
to stabilize the athletics budget (which we have done) and to
increase efforts at self-support through development and through
increased entrepreneurial activity (ongoing goals). I am pleased
to be able to report today that, due to the extraordinary efforts
of many individuals, committees and organizations on and off
campus, we have already made significant progress in each of
these areas. Let me give some key examples:

Enrollment Services: An Enrollment Enhancement Task Force was
established to help us better address the needs of our students
and to make better use of the resources of the campus. Building
on this first step, a complete reorganization of all enrollment
service units was effected, a new Associate Vice President will
soon be joining us, our enrollment has been stabilized and a 5
year plan for enrollment has been developed. For the Fall of
1996, for example, we have received over 1000 more applications
than we did last fall and our plan for enrollment growth and
stabilization is one year ahead of schedule.

Student Success: The Task Force on Retention and Graduation,
chaired by Professor and Chair of Biological Sciences Lee Dorosz,
has completed its report . As a result of their excellent
efforts, many policies are being reviewed so that we can update,
simplify, and eliminate where appropriate, our current campus
procedures. A "one-stop-shopping" , Student Resource Center is
being established with the help and leadership of Lewis Bundy and
a Student Learning Center is being planned. Staff development
initiatives focused on improved "service" are also part of the
"mix."

Campus Climate: Many of you have told me that the campus I
envisioned as "cleaner, safer, prettier, and happier" is becoming a
reality. We have the now infamous "clean windows" that allow
views--views of our many new walkways and much of the landscaping
that accompanied their construction. We have made "you can get
there from here", the slogan accompanying the welcome signs on the
first day of classes last year, much more of a reality. Similarly,
we have made substantive progress on our interactive climate under
the direction of Gabe Reyes, the Special Assistant to the President
for Campus Climate. Gabe has helped develop an Executive Advisory
Board and various Subcommittees to work with us and the Board. Many
initiatives have been undertaken including panel discussions,
seminars/speakers, and cultural events that help us better
understand and respect each other. The Senate commitment to
diversity has resulted in approximately one-quarter of a million
dollars in faculty development funding for this initiative. Faculty
and staff professional development and leadership efforts have been
expanded across all of our divisions. [Mention Administrative
Affairs Leadership Certificate, Internship in Provost's Office and
Internships in the President's Office; CCRI ...later]

Information Resources/Information Literacy: A reorganization of
all "information units" is being planned and our first Chief
Information Officer (CIO) will be joining us on October 1. Almost
$28M in funding for our campus utilities/telecommunications
infrastructure has been provided (via Proposition 203) and
enhancement funding ($500,000 per year for three years) for this
initiative has been provided by the CSU as one of two special
requests I made to the Chancellor's Office. We have also been
invited to submit an application for additional funding to the
Knight Foundation. That request, which was submitted as a
prospectus and is now being finalized as a full grant request, is
aimed at faculty development funding for the creation of
department-based "champions" -- champions at infusing the "new
technologies" and their applications into our learning and
scholarship efforts. I have also established a small task force of
external and internal "friends" to help bring a targeted $1 million
dollars in in-kind equipment donations to the campus, over the next
two years, as part of this initiative. In particular, I will be
working with several of the new members of my Advisory Board,
including David Lam of Expert Edge, Eric Benhamou of 3Com and
Richard Previte of AMD. Don Kirk, the Dean of Engineering and Jay
Pinson, the retired Dean of Engineering, have agreed to help
coordinate this initiative.

We will continue to move the first year initiatives forward and
to continue to improve the entire foundation on which this campus
rests. So part of our theme going into this year will be "going the
distance." We need to continue what we've begun and make sure we
get to where we want to be. It is also time to coalesce the
strength of the campus and to begin to address concerns that have
heretofore been on the back burner. I recently held my annual Staff
Retreat to discuss our year two initiatives. At that retreat, we
questioned what remains to be done on our initial goals, and what
new specific initiatives do we want to begin? Which initiatives
will play the greatest role in providing a campus of quality, a
campus of excellence, and a campus that meets the needs of its
students and the state?

Several of the specific goals for each of the administrative
units, which resulted from these discussions, follow:

Academic Affairs: The completion of our curricular
prioritization process will be the primary focus within the
division. This effort, coupled with our administrative
reengineering and restructuring efforts, will provide the
cornerstones to our future. We need to better balance our various
offerings and efforts to fund what we do more appropriately. Part
of this effort will also be aimed at nurturing key academic
programs with an emphasis on developing regional, state-wide or
even national prominence. Other efforts will include an increased
emphasis on assessment of learning outcomes, a review of our
faculty role and reward efforts and an expansion of extended
education.

We also need to build on our long and historical role as an
institution that has a prime responsibility to prepare and
maintain the educational workforce (teachers and administrators)
throughout the state, and couple that traditional role to the
Metropolitan University goal of being a partner with our
community and helping it to solve many of its social problems.
Education generally has been under attack for well over a decade,
since the publication of A Nation At Risk. Despite the dozens of
studies, grants, and initiatives at all levels, including the
Office of the President of the United States, little progress has
been made. Locally, we have seen this issue surface in a number
of ways, including the recent dialogue on Remediation within The
California State University System, questions surrounding the
efficacy of the Master Plan and the students we accept on our
campuses, and anecdotal feedback from business, in particular,
that the graduates we are graduating are not educated. It's felt
that many of our graduates cannot communicate well, particularly
in writing, and are missing many of the basic skills expected of
the university-educated graduate. In order for us to address
these complex societal issues, all of education needs to be
notched up. And the only way we're going to do that is by helping
each other.

Consequently, other goals within the Academic Affairs Division
for 1996-1997 are to:

Establish Conversation with Colleagues, Regular Meetings with
Community College Chancellors and School Superintendents and
Principals

Coordinate a Region-wide Initiative Focused on the
Preparation and Maintenance of a Timely Teaching Workforce

Teachers Who Teach Our Teachers (i.e., The CSU effort)

Focus on Professional Development Schools

Assess Existing Programs and Realignment Where Necessary

Administrative Affairs: A campus needs a capital infrastructure
that meets the needs of its programs. A major role for the
Administrative Division will be to shepherd our capital
construction projects forward. The division will also continue to
expand its staff and leadership development efforts and to work at
the continuous implementation of the "vision" it has developed and
the reengineering, restructuring, and refocusing that the
achievement of that vision will require.

Student Affairs: A campus that maximizes the potential for
student success needs a strong and supportive student affairs
philosophy. During 1996-1997 we will "go the distance" by
continuing our efforts aimed at "student life" activities: Earlier
I mentioned the Student Resource and Student Learning Centers being
developed by the Academic Affairs Division. We will also be
developing a Multicultural Center, will be establishing an office
to coordinate student volunteerism and community service, and will
continue to develop efforts to address more effectively the needs
of the non-residential student-making them more and more a vital
component of campus life.

Advancement: I am pleased to report that we finished our 95-96
fund year at $7.5M--a half a million over the previous year. And,
with significant pledges in hand for several of our current
initiatives, we expect to do even better this year. I also want to
take this opportunity to formally announce the public phase of the
"Heritage Gateway Campaign." This campaign, with a goal of raising
$1.5 Million dollars to build 8 new entrances to our campus is now
over the half-way point. We expect to raise the remaining money in
the next 5-6 months and construction will begin in the fall of
1997. The gateways should be completed by spring 1998. We are also
well on our way to achieving the funding target that will allow for
a total ($13 million) renovation of the Business Classroom
Building, making it a state-of-the-art facility for the next
century. Richard Previte, an alumnus of our campus, and the
President of AMD, is chairing that campaign. The College of
Education is also seeking funds for the renovation of a "one room
school house" which they recently were able to get donated to the
San José Historical Museum in Partnership with SJSU.

Climate: We are institutionalizing the office with the title of
Assistant to the President for Campus Climate. Gabe Reyes will be
remaining in the position for a minimum of two more years, at which
point, based on the recommendations of the Advisory Committee, we
will begin a three-year rotation of the position soliciting
nominees from on campus. We have decided to make the position a
permanent part of the President's office and to rotate the
Assistant to the President to continually bring in new ideas and
perspectives. The primary emphasis for the office this year will be
completion and operationalization of recommendations from last
year's study. The initiatives are intended to help us develop : a
climate which values diversity, improve our recruitment and
retention of faculty and staff, increase our professional
development activities, evolve pedagogical strategies, develop a
"user-friendly" campus.

Foundation: Kent Gibson, working with the Vice Presidents, is
coordinating a review of all of our campus auxiliaries. The
Foundation will increase its emphasis on developing industrial
partnerships: incubators, consulting, and technology transfer. For
example, we recently joined both the Environmental and Software
Incubators as Board members and are negotiating with the new
International Business Incubator.

Athletics: Our entry into the new Western Athletic Conference
(WAC) and the Athletic Divisions goals, as outlined in "Vision
2000" will provide us with a conference of institutional partners
that complement our own academic and athletic goals. As I said
earlier, the budget is stabilized. We are ready for our new
conference. We have had several noteworthy achievements in
athletics this year, including winning the Big West Men's
Basketball Tournament, 2nd in the Nation in Woman's Golf, and a
35th National Championship for Judo. Several SJSU students were on
Olympic teams in Atlanta. Our Homecoming Football game against San
Diego this year will be broadcast regionally on ABC. We are looking
forward to the new challenges before us and to additional examples
of the synergy that results from a strong academic-athletic
partnership.

Equal Opportunity: We have begun and will continue to focus
increased energy in this important area and, where appropriate and
beneficial, will continue to decentralize and institutionalize our
efforts related to equal opportunity, affirmative action and
employee practices. I will return to these issues shortly.

Beyond these specific initiatives, I want to use the resources
of my office to focus the energies of the entire campus in a vital
area--"student success". Student success has many components, some
of which I have already mentioned briefly. The major components
that comprise our ongoing efforts and planned efforts include:

Aggressive and Targeted Recruitment and Retention

Orientation for All New Students

Study Breaks with Caret

Dialogue with the President

Focus on Retention/Graduation

Student Resource Center

Student Learning Center

Emphasis on Broader Course Availability

Emphasis on Student Life

"The College Experience"

Increase all "Information Resources"

The Library

Information Technologies

State-Wide Access (i.e. the the Pac Bel Internet Access)

Increased Modem Availability

More "Power", "Tools," "Support," and "Training"

Many people and offices have worked together as a team to turn
some of our and goals into accomplishments this past year--and I
want to thank all of you for these contributions. Many of you have
singularly been spectacular in your efforts and it is impossible to
personally thank individually all who were and are involved in our
many success. Let me begin by thanking all of our faculty and staff
for pulling together, for helping and for making us successful. I
also want to point out for special thanks, the Senate, Stacey
Morgan Foster and Leon Washington and the Enrollment Enhancement
Task Force, Lee Dorosz and the Retention Committee, the Campus
Climate Advisory Committee, and the many individuals involved in
our successful accreditation visits and our ADA Survey and Plans. A
special thanks to our FD and O and Grounds people for their help
with the campus "look and feel."

Let me also use this opportunity to introduce several new
members of the administration and several individuals with
significant new responsibilities:

Victor Castillo, Director of Facilities Management

Alan Freeman, Director, Facilities Planning, Design and
Construction

Dan Johnson, Associate Vice President , Facilities
Development and Operations

Peter Lee, Associate Vice President for Faculty Affairs

Rose Lee, Associate Vice President for Financial and
Administrative Program Planning

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Jim Schmidt
for serving both as the Director of the Library and the Interim
Chief Information Officer over the past year. His help has been
vital and is appreciated.

You may recall that last year, as a way to challenge all of us
to demonstrate our university, SJSU team spirit, I put on an SJSU
baseball cap and pin and offered inaugural pins to all on the
campus. Since donning that cap and spirit for my role on the team,
I have been busy. Aside from meeting and talking with literally
hundreds of community people in formal and informal settings, I
have taken the concept of Metropolitan University to the core of
the Presidency:

in San José

I have been asked by the Mayor to Co-Chair of City-Wide Review
of the Arts; I sit on the Repertory Theater Board, the Opera Board,
the Chamber of Commerce Board;, the Joint Venture Silicon
Valley/Economic Development Team Board, and Co-Chair its
Subcommittee on Workforce ("Brainworks")

in the CSU

I represent the Presidents on the Cornerstones Initiative
(i.e., System-wide PEW effort), the Extended Education Initiative
the Students in the Year 2005 Committee (i.e., enrollment
planning), and have been asked by the Chancellor to chair the
CSU-UC Committee on Joint Graduate Programs.

National/State

I sit on the MESA Board, am involved in developing the ACE
Initiative with Mexico, and the AASCU Initiatives in
International Education and Technology. Two new editions of my
chemistry texts have just come out, and I am proud of that
accomplishment, but I have to admit that I have not touched a
test tube this entire past year.

Liz and I are both out there representing SJSU and we know
many of you are too. We need to all continue to help in
strengthening our community linkages.

Let me conclude today by turning to one of the most critical
issues in contemporary American society.

In last year's address I reinforced this institution's
commitment to equal opportunity and affirmative action. Quote:

On a more personal and controversial note, given the recent
action by the University of California Board of Regents, I feel
it important to make clear my personal view on affirmative
action. As an institution, and as individuals, we may well be
asked to go on record as to our stance regarding this important
issue. I believe that affirmative action has been good for this
country; it has been good for this institution, this region, this
system and the state.

Our role is to provide the next generation of
citizens-educated citizens who will continue to improve and build
this society. We can only do that by continuing to provide the
broadest access and empowerment of people we possibly can.
Education is the bridge to the future for each individual as well
as for our society. What we do works, and we will make the
strongest case possible for the right to continue to do it. The
way we have approached affirmative action is appropriate, morally
defensible, and desirable.

I reaffirm that commitment this year, when affirmative action is
under grave attack on a much larger scale. Robert Atwell, recently
retired President of the American Council on Education, provided
very thoughtful remarks in his last address to an ACE national
meeting last January. Paraphrasing, he stated:

Higher education performs a powerful service to society in
general--especially when we work to ensure the success of persons
whose formal entering credentials may be seriously lacking, or
whose preparation is inadequate to allow them to function in the
marketplace...Remediation [as an example; and other support]
often is [are] an essential component of affirmative action. It
is justified--indeed required--by both a sense of responsibility
to those whose potential exceeds their past performance and the
enormous gains to society that come from reducing the potential
of these individuals for dependency.

Today we have before us a new challenge-the "California Civil
Rights Initiative (CCRI). While the CCRI purports to be a step
towards providing a more equitable playing field for society, its
affects will most certainly be just the opposite. And it is up to
us to explain why. CCRI will not allow us to "help" those in
greatest need of help. CCRI will change our role in society. Let me
quote a letter that I have collaborated in drafting, which will be
signed by the majority-if not all-of the Presidents of the
California State University System:

"...the California Civil Rights Initiative (CCRI) is an
unnecessary change that would hurt all Californians...It is
imperative that quality education continue to be the centerpiece
for a strong California economy and a vital and viable society.
By voting no on CCRI, voters can help preserve the American
ideals for all Californians."

We are evolving into and emerging as this valley's Metropolitan
University. Reinforcing what I said last year, this institution has
always been a major educational, economic, and social resource to
this region. As we develop our Metropolitan University role and
focus on this region and its needs, we will continue to serve as
that resource and, if we do our job right, we will continue to play
an expanded role in the development of the region in a way we can
all applaud and be proud of.

My inaugural address was titled "Dream No Small Dream." I chose
that title, as I stated, because I felt the institution needed a
big dream..."a dream that could stir one's souls...". Many of you
have confirmed that the institution is in need of a big dream.
Working together we can make our dream a reality.

I appreciate the help and support I've received over the past
eighteen months, and ask for your continued dedication and support
in the months ahead, stand ready to help in any way that I can, and
wish you a wonderful academic year .